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  • The former Star of Jeffersonville ticketing barge tipped over and lodged on the bottom of the Ohio River around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. Staff photo by C.E. Branham

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May 5, 2010

Star’s barge capsizes into Ohio River in Jeffersonville

No one working on vessel when it flipped on its side

By SHEA VAN HOY shea.vanhoy@newsandtribune.com

JEFFERSONVILLE — The city of Jeffersonville has spent weeks trying to move the Star of Jeffersonville’s ticketing barge from the city’s riverbank.

Mother Nature did the job for it Wednesday evening.

The barge capsized away from the bank at about 6:30, according to Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan, and dozens of spectators lined up under the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge to watch the free water show.

 The bottom of the boat faced those on the riverbank, as a river swelled by heavy rains over the weekend swirled around the vessel, which once served as a ticketing and reception area for The Star, a cruise ship.

“We’re just trying to make sure it’s secure,” Galligan said of the barge, which appeared to be wedged on the bottom of the river. “This is serious.”

It could have been more serious, as Larry Wilder, an attorney who has represented the city in matters regarding the Star’s barge, said several workers had just left the vessel before it broke loose and flipped over.

Galligan said getting the boat out of the river now would be “a serious salvage” and that a boat with “A-frame” cranes may be needed to hoist it from the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies had been notified of the potential safety hazard the capsizing created, Galligan said from the riverbank at 8 p.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard is not directly involved, Petty Officer James Sybor said by phone. It was when the boat first started to sink, but has since handed off jurisdiction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We are concerned about this thing becoming a floating derelict,” he said.

However, he added, “the good news is [the river] should be cresting very soon.”

A call was placed Wednesday night to the Corps of Engineer’s public affairs office in Louisville, but was not immediately returned.



THE BACK STORY

The capsizing led Galligan to criticize the owners of the barge — Star of Louisville Inc. — a company that has had disputes with the city about the lease for the docking space for the Star and concerning the barge’s initial sinking in December.

“The sad part about this is the owner abandoned it — this should have been taken care of,” Galligan said.

And it would have, said David W. Evanczyk, a minority stockholder in Star of Louisville, if the city hadn’t been responsible for the initial sinking.

Evanczyk said Star officials had plans to remove the barge when city emergency workers ordered the power cut to the vessel in December, which caused pumps to fail and the boat to sink.

In March, an agreement was signed between Star of Louisville Inc. and Jeffersonville that gave the city authority to move the boat. The city hired contractor Sprigler Builders to do the work, and since then the barge has been lifted to the surface by pumping out water, only to see it sink again when pumps either failed or were turned off in April. As of Wednesday morning, pumps had again raised the barge to a height at which crews could work on dismantling it.

“We were about a day away from being able to cut the top off and lighten [the barge] even more,” Galligan said.

Evanczyk said Wednesday night that the barge should have been gone by now, and it’s not Star of Louisville’s obligation.

“It was legally the city’s total responsibility to remove it. We entered into a legal agreement with them and they are the permit holder [for the docking spot],” he said. “When [the city] allowed it to sink, we took the position that it’s their barge. They bought it.”

“Still, it’s not a situation we like, and the city doesn’t like it.”

When told the vessel appeared to be lodged against the bottom of the river Wednesday night, Evanczyk said he was relieved it was there and not floating down the river.

“That’s a better situation than if it broke lose. It’s safer there,” he said. “It can be cut up and taken out of there when the river goes down. It’s not hurting anything there, but it’s already destroyed.”

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Ryan Stonecipher, a junior from Corydon Central High School, makes a jack screw on a metal lathe at the Prosser Career Education Center. The school has changed its name from the Prosser School of Technology to better reflect its mission.

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